Chill
by alaisiaga
Summary: Remus has been keeping a secret from his best friends and not the secret that you'd normally associate with him. How long can he keep it up before his friends figure it out? RL:LE.


**A/N:** This is also from a 100-prompt challenge that my sister made. This is based on prompt number 81: Chill. (Incidentally, if you're interested in the prompt table, check out crystallicrain's livejournal.)

Remus and Lily and their "study sessions", Padfood and the pillow he abused, James and his suspicions, and the rest of the marauders and Hogwarts are all the intellectual property of J. K. Rowling. No offense is meant by my clumsy manipulation of her world.

* * *

**( c h i l l )**

It was a cold night near the Christmas holidays. Many of the residents of Gryffindor Tower had already turned in for the evening, but a handful were still occupying the common room. Some chatted about heading home, or how drafty the castle was in December, or the unfair workload that their teachers had presented them with for the holiday (though only a few were actually doing the work). Another pair played gobstones; three younger students were busily trading wizard cards garnered from chocolate frogs in care packages sent from home, no doubt accompanied by letters telling of the family preparations and wishes for the next few days to pass quickly until the last day of classes would see the majority of students back onto the Hogwarts Express.

Two sixth-year students sat at a table near a window, essay parchments, textbooks, and notes spread out in front of them. Despite upcoming projects or tests in a few of their shared classes, they weren't actually studying anything. The redhead would gesture with her quill and take notes occasionally, her green eyes glimmering; the boy with hair the colour of dark honey and golden eyes would point out a passage from an essay or text, and indicate another line in notes. However, the quiet words they shared were never about Herbology or Defense Against the Dark Arts. They spoke softly of their time together, what they would do over the holidays, and if they'd be able to see each other before classes resumed.

Remus felt eyes on him, suddenly, and looked up towards the chairs near the fire where Sirius, James, and Peter were sitting, discussing a new prank to play on Severus, no doubt. Was it his imagination, or had Prongs just been looking at him?

"Remus?" a soft voice inquired as she tapped her quill on the back of his hand. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, Lily, of course I am," he said, turning back to face her once again. "I'm just a little... tired, I guess."

She smiled gently. "You do look a bit worn out. Was it difficult, last night?" she inquired, concern lighting her almond-shaped eyes.

"Mm, I guess," he said, gazing out the window at the moon. Though the constellations were slightly blurred by the snowstorm going on outside, it was easy to see the moon was just beginning to wane from full. Remus looked at her with a grin. "That shack gets drafty, even with all that fur."

"You should see Madam Pomfrey for a pepper-up tomorrow. Even if you've memorized the textbook, you won't do well on the DADA exam if you're ill, love," she said with a smile.

"You're right. I'll do that first thing in the morning. After the library, of course, my dear," Remus added.

"Of course," she smiled. "But you know, I'm rather tired myself," Lily said in a normal tone, stretching with a sigh. "I'm going to get some sleep." She rolled up her parchment and placed her books in her satchel, with Remus's assistance.

"Turning in for your beauty sleep, Evans?" Sirius called from the fire, a slightly mocking smile on his face.

"If that were actually true, you'd be trying to sleep more than a cat," Lily countered.

"That would be if I _actually needed_ beauty sleep. But anyway, cats and I don't get along very well," Sirius said, winking at James, who chuckled at that.

Lily just shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask. Goodnight," she sighed as she headed up the staircase.

"'Night," echoed the chorus of boys. Remus started to pack up his own papers, clearing the table. Lily had forgotten one of her quills; he'd have to give it to her the next morning, during their . . . "study session".

Knowing all the secret passageways, including (and, perhaps, especially) the most concealed ones, certainly did have its uses. He smiled slightly as he twirled the quill between his fingers before tucking it into a pocket on his bag.

Realizing he had missed a question Peter had asked him, Remus said, "Beg pardon, Wormtail, say it again?"

"I asked, what were you guys studying?" Peter said.

"Yeah, you guys certainly have been studying a lot together," Sirius said, looking back at Remus with mock-seriousness on his face. "I'm truly surprised that our dear Miss Evans hasn't been bored to death yet."

"Ha ha _ha_," Remus said, rolling his eyes in between shoving texts into his bag. "I'll have you know that not _all_ people find intellectual discussion so mind-bogglingly dull as all you slackers do."

"Yes, I'll bet your discussions were very _educational_," Peter said, wiggling his eyebrows in such a ridiculous manner that Remus was surprised they didn't fall off his face.

Sirius looked at Peter, then at Remus. He snorted incredulously. "Moony and Evans?" he said with a grin. "Hell, Moony and _any_ girl not in a book? Come on, Wormtail," he added, tossing a pillow at Peter's head.

"Besides," James said, looking blandly at Remus, "Moony isn't the sort of guy to go behind his best friend's back like that."

Meeting James's gaze, Remus suddenly felt a shiver, but he finished up packing a final roll of parchment. "Of course not. Padfoot is the bloke you've got to watch out for."

Sirius shuddered. "Not after that time that Evans beat me up in the library. She's crazy." He tilted his head and looked up at the ceiling, clearly visualizing something. "Absolutely _killer_ legs, but absolutely bonkers. And not 'crazy' in an endearing way. Crazy in a _disturbing_ way." He was interrupted from his reverie on Lily's legs by a pillow launched back at him. He easily caught it, and stuck his tongue out at Peter.

"Stop waxing eloquent," he drawled. "We all know no girl's too crazy for Padfoot to write off."

"Normally, no. But Evans is _not_ normal," Sirius said, shaking his head.

Peter looked to Remus again. "So what were you guys studying?"

"Oh, you know, just discussing and reviewing ideas. Herbology. Potions. DADA."

"But you're not in her Potions class," James said. "_I_ am."

_Oops_. "Oh, I know, but it was a more historical aspect of Potions that she was having a problem with," Remus said nonchalantly as he sat in a vacant chair near the fire.

"Ah, that's true," Sirius chimed in. "No one's better to ask about anything historical than our dear friend Moony. After all, he's probably the only person in the history of Hogwarts to actually read _Hogwarts: A History_."

"That's not true!" Peter said. "I'm sure the author read it."

"While they were writing it," Sirius said, sticking up a finger, "but most certainly not _after_ that."

Remus looked up and met James's eyes. Was it just his imagination, or was his friend's smile not quite as warm as it usually was?

James looked away and cracked a joke of some sort, and the other two boys laughed and continued their talk.

Despite the merrily crackling fire in the grate near him, Remus felt a distinct chill.


End file.
